KENYA: BEST LOCATION FOR SAFARI ADVENTURES AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE.

ARTHUR FROMMER (the guru of travel guides) had this to say recently - Kenya, in East Africa, is regarded by many travellers, including me, as Africa's best location for safari adventures at an affordable price.

Botswana's lodges may be more elegant, and South Africa combines open-air safaris with urban attractions - Cape Town is a tourist favourite - but Kenya virtually guarantees an abundance of wildlife for your excursions into the bush, and offers wonderfully low prices for the entire safari experience.

When you venture into the games parks of Kenya, and drive in an open-air van through the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti, you almost always pass hundreds of animals of every conceivable species, and view the world as it was before human beings inhabited it so many years ago.

The experience is mystical and memorable. When, by contrast, you travel through the wildlife areas of numerous other African countries, you sometimes pass days when you spot only an occasional animal. Contrast that with the many thousands of wildebeest, giraffes, elephants, lions, cheetahs, monkeys and more that roam the safari areas of Kenya. Credit: Toronto Star

WINDFALL OF MARINE EXPERIENCES - MAFIA ISLAND

Information from Dar es Salaam speaks of a windfall of marine experiences for tourists visiting Mafia Island, as increased sightings of the whale sharks have been reported in recent months. Marine experts are in fact at a loss to explain why against the more "regular" behavior of whale sharks, which are known to migrate through the waters at a steady pace, the more recent sightings indicate that they are lingering in the waters around Mafia Island for much longer periods than normal.

JOINT VISA FOR TOURISTS GOING TO EAST AFRICA

Ministers from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda have approved the use of national identity cards as travel documents and the issuance of a single tourist visa. They made the endorsement at the end of a two-day meeting that sought to iron out issues under the tripartite arrangement.

PRINCE CHARLES IN INDIA

During their recent visit to India, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, attended a sacred ceremony on the banks of the River Ganges in India on the first day of their nine day tour of India. The ritual took place at a temple in the holy Hindu city of Rishikesh, where the Beatles famously studied transcendental meditation in 1968.

KERALA NAMED IN TOP 10 HOLIDAY FAMILY DESTINATION

Travel guides publisher Lonely Planet has named Kerala among the world's 10 best destinations for taking the family on a holiday in 2014. As we all know, India is a hot destination right now because of the fallen rupee. Africa fared well in a lot of the categories. Victoria Falls made the list as one of the top regions to visit; Malawi and Seychelles made it in the top 10 countries to visit in 2014; Ethiopia was named one of the best value destinations and Cape Town made the list of top Cities to visit.

TRAVEL NEWS

PROPERTY UPDATES

MOVENPICK HOTELS & RESORTS is opening the first international five-star hotel in Jumeirah Lakes Towers.